• Canadian actress of Indo-Guyanese heritage, known for roles in Degrassi: The Next Generation and How To Be Indie
• Won a Canadian Screen Award and a Gemini Award
• Has two older sisters, a brother, and both parents are from Guyana
• Started acting career at age 3, career highlights include roles in Trigger, Festival of Lights, and Christmas Wedding Planner
• In a relationship with Johnny Larue and has a black belt in karate, a tattoo, and is a fan of Backstreet Boys



Known for movies

Short Info

FactHer father owns a karate school (hence her black belt).


Who is Melinda Shankar?

Melinda Shankar is a Canadian actress with Indo-Guyanese heritage, and is best known from the television series “Degrassi: The Next Generation” (2008-2015), in which she played the character of  Alli Bhandari. You may also recognize her as Indira “Indie” Mehta in the YTV series “How To Be Indie” (2009-2011), for which she received a Canadian Screen Award in 2013.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7qvdn3n1-u/

Melinda Shankar’s Bio, Age, Ethnicity, and Family

Melinda Leanna Shankar was born on the 18th February 1992 in Ottawa, Ontario Canada; her parents are Hindu of Indo-Guyanese descent who had immigrated to Canada from Guyana, but otherwise nothing is known about them. She has two older sisters, Melissa and Melanie, and a brother Michael who is also an actor. They spent their childhood in Orleans, Ontario, a suburban section of Ottawa, where Melinda attended Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School until Grade 11.

In 2008, the family moved to Toronto, when she was cast in “Degrassi”.

Melinda Shankar’s Career

From the age of three, Melinda showed a talent for ballet and tap dance. She began her professional career as a child model, and starred in some commercials for “Procter & Gamble” – her face was on a massive billboard in Los Angeles. Her acting start was difficult; her father was often giving her a ride of five hours from Ottawa to Toronto for auditions.

Melinda Shankar

Her acting debut was in the teenage series “Degrassi: The Next Generation”, which she filmed for seven seasons through 2015. Her first lead role was in a television series on YTV called “How To Be Indie”, which was also aired on the Disney channel in the UK; for this role, Melinda won a Gemini Award in 2011, and a Canadian Screen Award in 2013, having already accepted an award for Actress of the Year at the Anokhi Magazine Gala in February 2010.

Concurrently Melinda pursued other roles, and made appearances in films “Trigger”, and “Festival of Lights”, both in 2010. She reprised her role in “Degrassi: Minis” in 2011, while in 2013 she was Kaitlyn in the television film “Alive”. In 2015, Melinda continued her career with a recurring role in the TV series “Slasher”, and with a minor role in the television film “Christmas Wedding Planner” in 2017.

Continual Success

In recent years, Melinda has made a number of popular appearances, firstly in the TV series “Filth City” as Monica, and then as Bella in the television film “Christmas with a Prince” in 2018, reprised in the film sequel “Christmas with a Prince: Becoming Royal” (2019). Most recently, Melinda featured in an episode of the crime-drama series “True Dating Stories” (2019).

Melinda Shankar’s Net Worth, Height, Weight, and Appearance

Melinda is a star actress and all of her work so far has contributed to her wealth. According to sources, as of early 2020, Melinda’s net worth is estimated at around $500,000. In the past, she received around $30,000 per episode in TV series’, while per film role she would receive around $50,000.

Melinda Shankar stands 5ft (1.52m) tall, and weighs around 112lbs ~ 51kgs. There is no information about her vital statistics, but she has a slim figure.

Like many other people of Indian heritage, Melinda has dark brown eyes and black hair.

Melinda Shankar Personal Life, Dating, Relationships, Trivia

Melinda was in a romantic relationship for two years with Daniel Kelly from 2010 until 2012. Then dated her colleague Munro Chambers in 2013. Like many celebrities, Melinda prefers to hide her private life from the media, but it recent years it has become known that Melinda is in a relationship with Johnny Larue.

  • Melinda is a huge fan of Backstreet Boys.
  • She has a black belt in karate.
  • Melinda is allergic to the cats.
  • Her favorite Bollywood movie is “Slumdog Millionaire.”
  • She was featured on MTV’s Cribs.
  • She has a tattoo that says “Live.”
  • Her favorite fast food restaurant is McDonald’s.
  • Her favorite book is “The Outsiders”.
  • She doesn’t allow people to walk on the carpet in her house with their shoes on.

General Info

Full NameMelinda Shankar
Height1.59 m
ProfessionActor
NationalityCanadian

Family

SiblingsMichael Shankar, Melanie Shankar, Melissa Shankar

Accomplishments

AwardsCanadian Screen Award for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series
NominationsGemini Award for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series
MoviesDegrassi Takes Manhattan, Festival of Lights, Trigger, Degrassi Goes Hollywood
TV ShowsDegrassi: The Next Generation, How to Be Indie

Social profile links

Facts

#Fact
1Her father owns a karate school (hence her black belt).
2Melinda took Scott Paterson (Johnny DiMarco) to her prom.
3Since age 3, she has been doing ballet and tap dancing.

Pictures

Movies

Actress

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Darker Than Night2017completedMika
Christmas Wedding Planner2017TV Movie post-productionJealous Bridesmaid
Eye Witness2017Short post-productionCarrie
Slasher2018TV Series
Filth City2017Monica
Filth City2017TV SeriesMonica / Moinca
Degrassi: The Next Generation2008-2015TV SeriesAlli Bhandari
Degrassi TV2015TV Mini-SeriesAlli Bhandari
Alive2013TV MovieKaitlyn
Degrassi: Minis2011TV SeriesAlli Bhandari
How to Be Indie2009-2011TV SeriesIndie Mehta
Festival of Lights2010Reshma
Trigger2010/IIRocker Chick #1
Degrassi Takes Manhattan2010TV MovieAlli Bhandari
Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars2010TV MovieJanie
Degrassi Goes Hollywood2009TV MovieAlli Bhandari

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Blood, Debt & Tears2017Documentary short completed
Teens Wanna Know2014TV SeriesHerself - Guest
TeenNick Halo Awards2013TV SpecialHerself
Degrassi in Haiti2011TV MovieHerself
The Marilyn Denis Show2011TV SeriesHerself
Canada A.M.2011TV SeriesHerself
New Music Live2011TV SeriesHerself
eTalk Daily2011TV SeriesHerself
Degrassi in India2010TV Movie documentaryHerself
2010 MuchMusic Video Awards2010TV SpecialHerself
Eat Ghee2010Herself

Awards

Won Awards

YearAwardCeremonyNominationMovie
2013Canadian Screen AwardCanadian Screen Awards, CABest Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or SeriesHow to Be Indie (2009)
2011GeminiGemini AwardsBest Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or SeriesHow to Be Indie (2009)

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia
Author

Benjy is currently a reporter for BiographyPedia based in Adelaide, Australia. Prior to joining BiographyPedia in July 2019, he was a Bizarre TV reporter and theatre critic at TheSun. Benjy has also written for DailyMail and TMZ. Benjy studied journalism at Goldsmiths University of London, graduating in 2009. You can contact him at [email protected]

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